


I'm Totally Normal, Stop Laughing Tony!

by Kelly_Namikaze



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Along with many other nerdy things, Breakfast, DC is referenced frequently, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Injury, Loki and Bucky are probs showing up at some point, Multi, Mutant Reader, Pairings undecided, Panic Attacks, Tony Being Tony, Y'all are working on getting a Phd, steve rogers is a sweetheart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-07-01 19:07:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15780252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kelly_Namikaze/pseuds/Kelly_Namikaze
Summary: You lived a pretty normal life, if you ignored your powers, which you didn't really use all that much, then Tony Stark shows up in your living room and annoys you into becoming an Avenger.Now, you still considered yourself normal, but you already had a pretty skewed view of it anyways.





	1. Normal is Relative, Right?

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to another new series that I really shouldn't be starting, but here I am anyways.

You’d like to think of yourself as normal, really. You grew up in a small town, moved to New York for university, and worked two part time jobs to keep busy. You didn’t really have many friends, except for Alex. She was awesome, and was the only reason you did anything other than study or work. 

So yeah, you saw yourself as quite normal, for the most part.

~~~~~~~~~~

You were exhausted, it had been a long day of finals and customers who apparently didn’t understand that you did not, in fact, want to go to dinner with them. Your patience was almost non existent at this point, so when you were a block away from your apartment, and some idiots tried mugging you in the alley, you were done.

There were three of them, the typical leader with his two lackeys. You sighed at them as the leader pulled a knife out of his pocket, and you slammed your forehead into his  nose, making  him pull backwards, hissing in pain.

“You _bitch_!” He growled in pain, and gestured to the two others to get you. You grinned, normally grey eyes becoming a bright green as vines on the side of the building suddenly wrapped around all three of their feet.

You shrugged at their shocked faces. “I may be a bitch, but I am one capable of kicking your ass.” You said, and made a gesture with your hands, making the vines lifting them up, and made sure they were tied up nice and tight. “Bye boys, I have a movie marathon waiting for me.”

Once back in your apartment, you flopped on the couch, giggling.

Normal, is after all, subjective.

~~~~~~~~~~~

After a few nights of staying in and studying while marathoning the Batman movies, Alex had finally convinced you to go out with her and some Uni friends. So when you got home, you threw your bookbag on the couch like usual, and it wasn’t until you heard someone cussing that you realized something was off.

You whirled around, ready to tear this person a new one. You stomped over to the couch, already yelling. “Who are you and why the hell are you here!”

“Oh, Cap is just going to _love_ you.” You froze at the voice, which seemed semi familiar, like you had heard it in a crowd, or somewhere on tv. You cocked your head in confusion, finally taking a second to look at your home invader, and you felt your jaw drop.

That was Tony Stark. “You’re Tony Stark.” His smirk made you want to punch him in the jaw, and you quickly recovered from your moment of starstruckness. Billionaire superhero or not, he was trespassing. “Cool, I guess, why the hell are you here.”

“You wanna know something? I like to keep track of promising people in certain fields, like Biomedical Engineering. Kinda like yourself.” He pulls out his phone, throwing up a hologram in the middle of the room. It had your file, one that you didn’t even know existed until now.

Your eyes narrowed, and you crossed your arms over your chest. “Okay, Mr.Stark, if you wanted to recruit me, there are such things as emails, no need to be creepy. Anything else?”

“Oh, ouch. I am not _creepy_.” He defended, and you raised your eyebrows. “Okay, I may be a tad odd, but I’m not creepy. Also, it’s just Tony, not Mr.Stark.”

“Get on with it.” The longer he was here, the less time you had to get ready.

He sighed, and pulled up what looked like a streetcam from the other day in the alley. “Alright, you got me. I was going to recruit you, but not because of your work, which is admittedly pretty good. It’s because I want to know more about this.”

Mentally facepalming, but outwardly shrugging, you tried to act nonchalant. “It’s New York, weird shit happens constantly. It was crazy, but I have no clue how it happened.” You lied.

“Oh, really? I beg to differ. Look, I know that you probably have some reason for not showcasing your abilities, but the let’s face it, you have some pretty powerful abilities, and you could be doing more with them than protection from some petty thugs.” He told you, and you sighed, glaring at him.

“I’m so glad to see that the media doesn’t exaggerate your pompous assholeness.” You told him. “Look, it doesn’t matter that I can do that, I’m not a hero. I’m just a Jane Doe, trying to get through school, and maybe _not_ die in the process.” You told him, reaching for your phone. “Now, I’d appreciate it if you left, I have plans tonight and you’re kinda in the way of that.” Looking through your contact list, you called Alex.

“Y/N-” He called out your name as the phone dialed, and you held up your hand to tell him to shut up.

“Hey Alex.” A pause as Alex spoke to you. “Yeah, no, I’m still going, I just might be a bit late.” You cringed at her loud exclamation. “No, no, nothing bad happened, I was just a bit late getting home, so I’m running a bit behind.” You laughed at something she told you. “Yeah, I’ll text you when I’m on my way, bye Alex.” You hung up after that, and turned to glare at the Billionaire who was still in your apartment. “Why the hell are you still here?”

“Well.” He started, and you were already unimpressed. “You only got half my mini speech, which means you only got half the impact. Look, L/N, there isn’t one perfect type of person for being a superhero. I mean the only thing that you need to be a hero is to want to help people, which you obviously want because why else would you go into Biomedical Engineering.” He realized that he was getting nowhere fast, and switched gears. “Look, you don’t have to join right now, just think about it, and maybe meet the team sometime. From there, we can figure it out.”

“If I say yes, will you leave?” You asked, and he laughed slightly before nodding and heading towards the door. “Fine, I’ll stop by Monday. Goodbye.” Shaking his head, he handed you his card before leaving.

You sighed, going to your room to change into the dress Alex had insisted you wear, ready to forget what just occurred, at least for the night.

You had a feeling your definition of normal was going to change yet again.

~~~~~~~~~

It was Sunday, and you were sat on the couch in the living room, Alex sitting beside you as you binged Supergirl on the couch.

While your friend was busy screaming at James and Kara to just kiss already, your mind was occupied with tomorrow's visit to the tower. Tony had said that you weren’t joining the team right away, probably thinking that you would need some secondary training, which made you scoff internally. Your parents were so protective they wouldn’t let you out of their sight without knowing at least how to throw a punch.

Realistically, you knew from the moment that you agreed, that there was only one possible outcome, and it made you want to scream. You knew, that it would lead to you ending up as an Avenger, and you were so done with even the idea already. Glancing at Alex, you debated telling her.

Ever since you guys were little, like grade five, you two were inseparable. One hilariously failed science project, you stuck together like glue, and she was the first person you told when you realized what you could do, and she had even helped document the progress.

So it had confused you when you struggled with telling her about the whole, Tony Stark showed up in my apartment sitting in pretty much the same place you are now. You shook your head, resolving to tell her after meeting with them tomorrow. After all, there was no need to get her hopes up, she was almost as much of a nerd as you, except she favoured Superman, which has caused _far_ too many arguments.

You leaned your head on her shoulder, eyes sliding closed as she continued her rant.

This was your favourite type of normal.

~~~~~~~~~~

You had just stepped out of the small diner, your shift ending just a few minutes ago, and stopped when you saw a Lamborghini sitting on the street. You went to continue on your way, when a voice called out your name.

“Y/N!” Tony yelled, getting out of the car. “C’mon. I figured you could use a lift.” He said, probably seeing some of the confusion on your face. “Y’know, to like, the tower?” He questioned.

Blinking rapidly, your brain finally processed the question. “You are so lucky that I’m not working tonight. Fine, let’s go.” You said, and he cheered just a slight bit as you slid into the passenger seat, and you felt your lips twitching at the antics of the grown man.

The ride was quiet, with small talk interspersed. Most of it was just you enjoying riding in such a nice car, with half decent music. He pulled into the garage, and led you towards elevators. They opened and you both got in.

“Welcome back sir. I take it this is Miss L/N you told me about?” You tried not to startle at the voice, you really did, but you couldn’t help the tick your head made at the sudden voice.

The amused smirk that you got showed that you hadn’t done a good job playing it off. “You got it bud, Y/N, meet Friday, my personal AI that helps keep things running around here. Friday, this Y/N, set her up with clearance for everything except our personal floors, would ya?” He asked the air.

“Of course sir, would you like for me to gather the others in the common room?” The AI asked, and you marveled at how humanlike se was, even without a physical body.

“Sounds like a plan, while you’re at it, would you bring us there?” Tony asked, and the elevator finally started moving. You turned and gasped, just slightly at the sight. It was about eight thirty in the evening, and it had started to get dark enough out for the city lights to come on, the tail end of the sunset of the day growing more noticable the higher the elevator climbed.

You didn’t realize Tony had moved closer until he spoke up. “Yeah, it’s quite a sight, isn’t it? Looks better from the roof, but this is a pretty cool substitute.” You rolled your eyes at his attitude.

“Alex will _actually_ kill me when she finds out what this view looks like.” You responded, making him chuckle. Alex was a photography major, after all.

The elevator doors opened, and Tony walked out, not even bothering to check if you were following behind. You glared at him as you walked, although there was no real heat, the guy was already growing on you, even if he was a tad presumptuous. “You ready kiddo?” He asked as you both stopped outside of a door where you could clearly hear many voices. A sudden nervousness that hadn’t been there before make your stomach turn slightly, but you refused to show any weakness, so you merely nodded. “Okay, here we go.” He told you, pushing open the doors.

Most of the conversation stopped as you two stepped into the room, except for what seemed to be a pretty heated argument about codenames between who you recognized as Hawkeye and Falcon. A moment later though, both the Captain and Black Widow elbowed them, and after they both yelped in sync, you had the entire team's attention.

You resisted the urge to hide any further behind Tony than you already were, the gazes were making you slightly uncomfortable, you weren’t entirely used to being the center of attention. Awkwardly, you raised your hand in a small wave. “Umm, hi?”

The Captain got up then, striding towards you, and he held out his hand for you to shake, which you tentatively did. “Nice to meet you, I’m Steve Rogers, miss-”

“It’s Y/N L/N.” You were being more awkward than usual, but you figured that it was excusable.

Steve’s smile made you feel a tad better though. He turned slightly, and started pointing out the others still sat at the table. “Okay, over there in order, is Thor, Natasha, Clint, Sam, Wanda, Vision, and Bruce.” All of them either waved or nodded to you when their names were mentioned, not that it’s like you needed it, their faces and names could be seen all over the place on pretty much any given day.

Tony placed a hand on your shoulder, and guided you to sit down beside Bruce, Tony sitting down on your other side as Steve went to reclaim his spot between Sam and Wanda. Almost as soon as you sat down, you turned towards Bruce. “It’s kind of an honour to meet you sir. You’re half the reason I even considered going for a PhD.” You admitted, and then blushed. “Sorry, that sounded way more creepy than I thought it would.”

He chuckled lightly. “It’s all good, we all have our moments. Though considering your field of research, you really should be talking to Dr. Cho.” You nodded, still embarrassed.

Clint laughed. “Great, _another_ nerd in the group. You’ll fit right in with those two.” He gestured to Tony and Bruce.

“Though I was under the impression that Tony brought miss L/N for another reason.” Vision asked, and Wanda nudged him slightly.

“Sorry about him, though he is right. He did say that you were here because of you abilities, but never divulged what they were.” Wanda stated, making the others turn their attention which had previously drifted back to you.

You rubbed the back of your head nervously. “Umm, it’s kinda a long list, but it’s elemental manipulation, I guess is the best explanation.” Looking at some confused faces, you figured a demonstration was in order. “Do you guys have like a potted plant or something? It might be easier to show you.” You asked, and Natasha went out onto the balcony and brought back a fern in a sleek black pot. You nodded your thanks to her as she sat back down and slid the pot over to you.

“So.” You stated, lifting a chunk of dirt from the pot without touching it, your eyes going dark green as you did this. “I can control dirt and certain earthy metal, along with helping plants grow.” Your eyes turned a brighter green as you put the dirt back and the fern unfurled from the ball it was in. Your eyes switched to blue as you sucked the water from the dirt out. “There’s water manipulation, and theoretically ice, I’ve never really tried. Air and fire are a thing too, they’re just harder to show off.” You finished, and saw the interested looks on their faces. “What?” You asked.

Clint just shook his head. “And now we have the airbender.” You laughed as most of them looked at the both of you in confusion.

“It’s one of the best cartoons that America has ever made.” You explained.

After that, conversation passed pleasantly, and you found yourself smiling a lot more than normal, which only really happened while hanging out with Alex. You had been there for about an hour and a half when your phone started ringing.

You glanced at the caller ID and groaned. “I gotta take this, it’s work.” You told them, to which Tony spoke up.

“Thought you didn’t have to work tonight.” He said and you just rolled your eyes.

“Yes, Tony, I didn’t, but in the real world, sometimes you have to work to keep your job.” You retorted, getting an “Oooh!” From Sam as you went to stand by the elevator.

You picked up when you were pretty sure you out of hearing range. “Hello.”

“I need you to come in tonight.” Rayvin, your second boss, told you.

You weren’t surprised, but you were still annoyed. “Did Trinity not show up again? Because I swear to god, I am not picking up another shift for her.”

You could hear Rayvin laugh. “No, it’s not her, it’s Terra, she had a family emergency tonight, but I’ll keep that in mind about Trinity. God knows that she has dropped more shifts that I have guys. Anyways, I need you to come in for ten forty-five, otherwise I’ll be the only one here.”

You sighed, knowing that you’d feel bad if you left the place to herself, even if it was a Monday. “Fine I’ll be there for ten forty-five, see you then.” I told her, and she said thank you before I hung up on her.

You walked back into the common room sheepishly. “I’m sorry guys, but I’ve gotta go. Another girl had a family emergency, and the other one refuses to pick up others shifts.” You explained.

“It’s cool, we get it. We’ll see you later, right?” Sam said, the others nodding.

Steve stood up. “I’ll walk you out.” He told you, and you simply nodded, not bothering to argue. You waved goodbye to everyone, and you both made your way over to the elevator. When the doors closed, he spoke to you again. “So, where do you work?”

“Hmm?” You asked, distracted by the equally lovely view of the city at night, before realizing he had asked you something. “Oh, just a bar that’s close to my place. Step-sister bought it when she turned twenty one, and told me that I was working there as soon as I was old enough, taught me to mix drinks at seventeen, well, at least the more complicated ones.” You turned to look at him, and saw the scandalized look on his face.

“How young were you when you were doing the _less_ complicated ones?” He asked, and he sounded so much like an overprotective soccer mom that you just started laughing.

“I was fourteen, but don’t look so _scandalized_. My parents were always there, I didn’t do the whole party thing.” You told him once you were recovered, still slightly wheezing.

When the elevator reached ground level you groaned. “What’s wrong?” He asked.

You rubbed a hand over your face. “I told Rayvin that I’d be there for ten forty-five, but it takes forever to get there on the subway, I don’t have enough cash for a taxi on me, and I have to stop at home so I can change.” You rattled off, and you watched as he grinned. “Tony picked me up from my other job, so I didn’t have to worry then.”

“Don’t worry, I can drop you off if you want.” he said, and you nodded eagerly. He chuckled at you and made his way to the garage. “Here we are.” He stated as you stopped in front of a motorcycle that made you drool.

“Thanks.” You told him as you both got on.

“No problem. Where are we headed?” He asked, and you gave him directions that were pretty easy to follow.

When he stopped in front of your building, you climbed off as quickly as you could without seeming rude, as you had to get changed and put on makeup. You didn’t see him eye the area warily, after all, it was a pretty rough area. “Hey Y/N?” He asked before you had a chance to thank him for the final time and disappear into the building.

You turned around. “Yes Steve?”

“How about I drive you to work? I can wait down here if you want.” He said, and your eyes soften at his kindness.

“You really don’t have to, but if you are cool with it, it’d be pretty awesome. You can come up, just park your bike on the street. It’ll only take me a few minutes.” You said, and Steve nodded, following you as you walked up the stairs to the third floor, the elevator having been broken by your neighbors last spring.

You unlocked the door and walked in, continuing to your room as you called out to Steve. “You can hang out on the couch, I won’t be long. The remote for the tv is on the coffee table if you want to watch something.” As soon as the door to the bedroom closed you threw off the blouse that you had to wear at the diner that you never had a chance to change out of off, and shucked the blue jeans that you always changed after the diner from the skirt.

Looking through your dresser, you quickly pulled out a pair of black tights with mesh cutouts down the outer seams, and a black halter top that clung to your skin and stopped just above your belly button. After some light makeup, consisting of mascara, lipstick and just a tad of blush, you walked out of your bedroom, realizing that you only had ten minutes left.

“Steve? I’m good to go.” You told him, grabbing your leather jacket hanging by the door. He got up when you called, seeing you before you had put on your jacket, and blushed heavily. You looked up at him, confused by his silence. “Steve? You okay there bud?” You asked, which made him blush even more at his screw up.

“Yeah, I’m fine Y/N, let’s go.” He said quickly, and you shrugged at his weird behavior.

You both got back onto his motorcycle, and before you knew it, he was pulling up to the Black Dragon, your step-sister’s bar. You were almost sad to let go, he was nice and warm, and since you right outside the door, you didn’t have to worry about being late.

You sighed and got off though, because you actually liked this job and you loved your step-sister. “Thanks again, Steve. I never would’ve made it on time without you. You’re such a gentleman.” You said, and before he could respond, you kissed him on the cheek and disappeared into the building, leaving the blonde with a grin on his now very red face.


	2. Badass Suits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yet another Avenger break-in, more Alex screen time, (page time?) and some friendly sparring!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, I had most of this written up yesterday, but I couldn't figure out how to finish off the chapter until now. I hope you enjoy!

Steve walked back into the common room at eleven fifteen, the other Avengers still gathered at the island, and all at once, the conversation paused as they all turned and looked at the Captain.

He blushed at the knowing looks coming from Sam, Nat, and Tony. “What!?” He exclaimed, making Tony laugh.

“Capsicle, you just drove home a girl you just met home, and then dropped her off at work. And now you’re blushing so much we could probably light a city block, it’s pretty obvious.” The billionaire smirked. “You’ve got a crush.”

Steve groaned, knowing that he wasn’t escaping anytime soon. “I was just being _nice_ , Tony, is that so hard to believe?” He asked, placing his face in his hands.

“No.” Nat said, and Steve hoped for a brief moment. “But normally, if you’re only being nice, you don’t blush like a schoolgirl, seriously Rogers.” She scoffed. “You know better than to lie to me.”

“So, not that watching Steve try and fail to lie to us isn’t entertaining, because it is, but what happened with Y/N that has you so thrown?” Sam interjected before Steve could dig himself a deeper hole.

Steve’s blush only got worse at that, which brought all of their minds to the gutter, as most of them except Wanda and Vision let out whoops and wolf whistles. “You all have the mental capacity of two year olds!” The blonde yelled, throwing his arms up into the air as he walked away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You rolled out of bed the next morning reluctantly, the blaring of the alarm on your phone the only thing currently keeping you awake. After grabbing a shower, you made yourself a pot of coffee, since Alex was coming over. (And you swore that she loved coffee more than life itself, and you could relate, it being one of the few things to get you this far through school.)

You had downed one cup of the life bringing elixir before forcing yourself to get dressed, as you did have other things to do that day other than hang out with your best friend. Not long after, there was the sound of your lock clicking open, and you pulled down Alex’s favourite mug down and filled it, turning around to see… Natasha?

“The fuck?” You said, and you might’ve blushed at swearing in front of an Avenger, had you not picked up that shift, but you didn’t get back until late, and you no longer had the energy to care.

She seemed amused at your state, a large smirk resting on her face, and it took you a moment too long for you to realize you were staring, and looked away. “Good morning to you too.” She said, and you sighed, setting the mug on the counter.

“Sorry, you _weren’t_ who I was expecting. Would you like some coffee?” You asked, turning back towards the cupboards.

“Sure.” She responded, and you quickly poured her a cup, sliding it towards her.

You pointed at a glass jar. “There’s sugar in there, and milk is in the fridge.” She nodded, sitting down at the kitchen island, not putting anything in it. “Now I don’t want to be much more rude than I already have, but why are you here? Cause you are the _second_ Avenger to break into my house within a week, and I’m kinda sick of it.” You said, before taking a deep pull from your coffee.

“Well, the whole security thing is part of the reason I’m here. I know you haven’t quite committed to being part of the team, but I’d still like to spar with you as a skill assessment, no powers, of course. And Stark wants to upgrade your security.”

You sighed, it was too early for this. “Yeah, I don’t see the harm in sparring, and Tony will have to give me a list of upgrades, cause if I come back from work one day and there’s a thumbprint scanner on my door, he is a dead man.” You told her, and she nodded.

“There is one other thing I’d like to discuss, if that’s alright.” She asked, and you glanced at the clock, and figured that there was a little bit of time before the time Alex agreed to meet you.

“Shoot.”

Suddenly her smirk looked more mischievous than before, and you almost felt nervous. “Why did Steve get back to the tower blushing like a schoolgirl?” She asked, and you squinted slightly, trying to think of a reason, before your cheeks lit up as the memory returned to you.

“I kissed him on the cheek.” You said, more embarrassed now than the previous night.

“Got some feelings for Steve already?” She asked, sipping her coffee to hide her smile.

You frowned. “It’s not like that, I just met the man last night. He drove me to work, I was just saying thanks.” Your explanation was met with a nod as the assassin stood gracefully.

“Well, thank you for the coffee, but I must be going now. As for the time of the spar, does tomorrow after classes sound alright?” She asked, and you thought for a moment, before you remembered that you had tomorrow off from the diner and the bar.

“Sounds good, I’ll be there.” You agreed, opening your fridge to find something for breakfast. When you turned back around, she was gone. “I’m not Jim Gordon, that’s not fair.” You grumbled, getting started on cooking some eggs.

“Y/n!” A voice exclaimed from behind you, right before you were surrounded by a large hug. You cursed, and the burner on the stove suddenly flared. “Sorry.” Alex squeaked, resting her head on your shoulder.

“It’s fine Alex, I was just a bit lost in my mind. Your mug is on the counter, you know where the coffee is.” You brushed off her apology, knowing that you should have been more aware of your surroundings. “I should’ve heard you opening the door.”

She hummed behind you. “Yeah, about that, have you already gone somewhere this morning? Cause you normally just leave it locked if it’s just me coming over because I have my own key and all that jazz.” You chuckled nervously, plating up the sad excuse for breakfast.

“There’s actually a story to that, one that ties into the reason I brought you over today.” You told her, sitting across from where she had seated herself, exactly where Natasha had sat not twenty minutes ago. You just sat there for a moment, trying to figure out exactly where to start. You just thanked the gods that you didn’t have to explain your powers, she had known about them almost as long as you had them.

“C’mon Y/N, I don’t got all day, and you have class in-” She glanced at the clock on the microwave. “One hour.”

You cringed into your coffee, using your mug as a shield almost. “Okay, well, you know how last Tuesday some guys tried to mug me?” You asked, to which she nodded. “Well, on Friday, when I got home, there was a guy sitting on my couch.” Her face quickly twisted into concern, and you held up a hand up before she could interrupt. “Just- let me finish, it’ll make a tad more sense.”

She let out a huff, but didn’t try to speak. “Okay, so, I go over to yell at him because I was ready to beat the crap out of them, and, lo and behold, it’s _Tony Stark_. Asking me to, uh. Join the Avengers.” The shocked look on her face made almost made you laugh, but this was serious, so you held it in for later. “Yeah, I looked kinda like that too, don’t worry. So he shows me the footage of me and those thugs from Tuesday, and he’s like, you should join us, and I told him no.”

“So then I phoned you about going out, and when I hung up, he was still there, and he told me to at least meet the others before making a decision, so, I uh. Did. Last night.” Her face was flitting through a number of emotions, but one in particular made you wince. Betrayal. “I wanted to tell you, but I wanted to meet them first, because if it was a bust I didn’t want to get you excited for nothing. But it was okay, Captain America even drove me to work.”

It was silent for at least a full minute as you waited for Alex to process everything you just said. She blinked a few times before she spoke. “ _Goddamn_ that woke me up better than a cup of coffee holy hell. Y/n I swear you are going to be the death of me. And believe me, I am squeezing every last drop out of you about meeting the Avengers later, but for right now, I’ll settle for how you are processing all of this.”

You smiled fondly at her. “You’re a treasure Alex, you know that? But I’m doing, _okay_ , relatively speaking. I mean, someone else was going to find out about my powers eventually, minus well be the good guys.”

“And what about the offer?” She asked gently. “Has your answer on that changed?”

“I-” You started, but paused. “I think so. I mean, I’m a nerd at heart and meeting real superheros is almost as cool as the fictional ones, but gods know if I’m able to handle being one myself.”

Alex’s eyes scanned you. “Hun, I’ve known you for years, and let me tell you, you are more fit to be a Hero than Captain America himself. However, in this explanation, you left one thing out. Why was your door unlocked?”

“Oh, yeah. Natasha wanted to spar with me, and stopped by to let me know.” You said, and she frowned.

“I wish that _I_ got to have coffee with Black Widow.” She complained, and you smirked at her.

“You want to fight her instead?” You laughed at her quickly shaking her head. “I mean, I can ask if you can tag along.” You offered, feeling slightly bad for not telling her earlier.

You knew from her beaming smile that you made the right choice.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of Tuesday went without incident, and you stopped at your place after class to change into some leggings and a sports bra. You called Alex, letting her know you were on your way to the tower so she could meet you there.

You arrived there around noon, and entered the building with your gym bag tossed over your shoulder. Alex spotted you as you approached the building, and met up with you just as you entered. “Hey hun, how are you today?” You asked her, getting into the elevator. “Hey Friday, could you bring me to the gym?”

“Umm, _I’m_ doing alright, why are _you_ talking to the ceiling?” Alex asked, and before you could answer, the A.I responded.

“Of course Miss L/n. Am I to assume this is the friend Mr. Stark mentioned would be accompanying you?” You watched as Alex jumped slightly, and you could see why Tony laughed at you, at least partially.

“ _That’s_ why. Alex, meet Friday, Friday meet Alex.” You introduced.

Alex shook herself before responding. “You know, a warning would’ve been nice.” She grumbled. “Nice to meet you Friday.” She spoke slightly louder as she said that.

“Pleasure Miss Stockford. We have arrived at the gym.” The doors to the elevator opened, and you stepped into the nicest gym you had seen. Every machine you could think of was in one area, the most complex gymnastics setup you had ever seen in another, a flat area for sparring, and another flat area with hooks for punching bags.

You whistled, and walked over to the far wall to toss your bag on one of the benches. Seeing no one else there yet, you wrapped your hands as Alex sat beside you. “You wanna go a few rounds before Natasha shows up?” You asked her, but she shook her head.

“I am not wearing active wear, you can go warm up, I have a phone for a reason.” She responded, shooing you away. You chuckled at her antics, walking over to where a punching bag was hanging up.

You stretched for a few minutes before you started hitting it, and before you knew it, you were in your own little world. When you looked up, realizing that Natasha should have gotten to the gym by now, Natasha and Clint standing by Alex, grinning. Or at least Clint was, right before the redhead smacked him muttering something to him.

You walked over to them, blushing slightly. “Hey Natasha, Clint. How are you guys doing?” You asked, taking a towel and dabbing some of the sweat off of your forehead.

“We’re doing good. Who’d you bring with you?” Nat asked, and gestured to Alex, who looked like she was trying not to explode.

“That’s Alex, she’s here to carry me home when I can’t walk after this.” You answered. “Alex, this is Clint and Natasha.” The two assassins nodded at her, and I thought she was going to die.

Natasha looked at you like she was assessing you, which she probably was. “Alright, you ready?” She asked and you nodded.

You both took your places on the mats, a few meters apart. Your stance was loose, while she didn’t bother with one. You were slightly insulted at that, but you knew that was probably part of her plan, she was after all, a master spy as well as an assassin. Mind games were definitely part of her skillset.

Clint cleared his throat. “Alright ladies, let’s get down to business. Don’t hurt each other seriously, and Y/n, no powers. Okay? On my mark, get set, go!” Both of you started to circle each other for a moment, before Natasha realizes that you aren’t making the first move.

You dodged the strike she made for your face, as well as the kick she sent at your midsection, where you grabbed her leg and tried to flip her, only for her to catch herself and kick you in the jaw with her other leg. You recovered quickly, and dropped as she went for you again, and tried to sweep her legs out from under her, failing as she jumped over them.

This went on for awhile, the both of you grinning the whole time. She’d go for you, which you’d dodge, and then you retaliated which she dodged. While the pattern stayed pretty much the same, she pressed slightly harder each time, which you returned eagerly, missing having a good sparring partner since you moved to New York.

Abruptly, you were a fraction too late dodging a hit to your left side, and suddenly you were on the ground, pinned with Natasha holding her fist centimeters from your face. She broke into a grin. “I win.”

You chuckled. “Yeah, you win.” You admitted, and she stood up, offering a hand. All too familiar with the trick, you waved her off and got up on your own. “Thanks for that, I haven’t gotten to fight that hard in awhile.” You told her, and she threw you a water bottle from her bag which you drank greedily.

“Well, I’d definitely say you’ve passed, that was quite the workout you gave me, who taught you to fight like that?” She asked and you shrugged.

“Was mostly my Dad, he’s kinda overprotective, and started off fighting lessons young, I’ve dabbled in a lot of fighting styles. It’s actually how I met Alex. Her brother was in my taekwondo class, and he brought her along a few times.” You explained. “It’s funny, cause mom hated me fighting, probably would’ve taken me out of it if she could.”

Clint tilted his head. “Why’s that? Wouldn’t she want you to know how to defend yourself?”

“Well, I think it had to do with the fact that it was dad. They didn’t break up on great terms, and my older sister had already moved out by the time they got divorced, so I became her pawn.” Alex frowned at you, and you scoffed at her. “C’mon, you know I’m right, hell, you were there often enough.”

“Well, I can’t deny that much.” She admitted. “So, are we going now that you’re done with the assessment, can we grab lunch? I am starving.” Your stomach growled at the mention of food.

You laughed. “Well, there’s your answer, I’m going to change first though, I can guarantee that I smell terrible.”

“You can take a shower if you need.” Nat offered, and you smell your pits before nodding drawing a laugh from Clint and an ‘Eww’ from Alex. “Follow me, the locker room is this way.” She told you, and you grabbed her bag while she grabbed hers before she led you down a hall with three doors, clearly marked ‘Girls’, ‘Boys’, and ‘Other’.

She pushed the girls door open, you both quickly showered, and you forced yourself not to look her way, as you didn’t wish to be caught peeking. Of course, Nat saw this, and gave your form an appreciative once over. She had to admit, you were incredibly attractive, and she understood why Clint was checking you out earlier.

Once changed, you both left at the same time, where Alex and Clint were chatting with each other.Alex looked over at you. “Is it cool if we join them at the tower for lunch?” She asked, and cheered a little when you nodded. “Awesome Sauce! I just hope you guys have enough food for her, she’s like a walking garbage disposal”

You grimaced at the nickname. “I swear to god Alex, don’t make me use your name from grade nine, because I will do it.” You warned, and she squeaked.

“ _Nevermindlet’sgo._ ” She rushed, pulling you along as she dragged you to the elevator, the duo of assassins smirking at you as Alex practically shoved you into the doors.

“So who’s all here for lunch?” You asked, and Clint thought for a moment.

“I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s only going to be us, Vision, Wanda, and maybe Thor. Sam and Steve are hanging out somewhere, plus Tony and Bruce are probably holed up in the lab.” The archer responded.

You could see the exact moment that Alex’s eyes lit up. “That’s _so cool_.” She mumbled.

“C’mon Alex, it’s like high school 2.0. You got your hot nerds, your geeky nerds, prom king and queen, class clown, the new kids, the jock and that weirdo who always knows what’s going on.” You told her, trying to be funny.

“Wait, you now realize that you have to tell us which one of us goes where, right?” Clint says, a grin on his face. After dealing with his stupid jokes the entire time you were sparring, you had no mercy.

So when you you looked directly at him and said, “Well, you’re _obviously_ the weirdo.” There was no remorse at his shocked and slightly hurt look.

He continued to lament your comment as you got off the elevator, while Natasha smirked. “I’d like to hear the rest of your comparisons, Y/n.” She said, and you blushed.

“I mean, they’re pretty self-explanatory.” You whispered, and she raised her eyebrows.

“Not really, prom queen and king don’t make a ton of sense.” Alex interjected.

You sighed. “And to think I butchered such an amazing Mean Girls quote to fit this bunch. Prom king and queen go to Steve and Natasha, because they’re the most popular of their gender on the team. High school was _literally_ four years ago, is your memory that bad?” Your face was in your hands at this point, you were so done.

This was probably a mistake on your part, as you were still very much walking forwards, or at least until you walked straight into, a wall? You startled, and started to fall backwards when a sturdy arm wrapped around your waist to steady you, and you realized that you walked into a _person_. A person who was apparently solid muscle. You looked upwards, and _yup_ , there was Thor, looking down at you with a look between concern and amusement.

“Are you alright, Lady Y/n?” He asked, his voice slightly louder than what you’d consider normal.

It took you a moment to process what was happening, and when you did, you squeaked. “I am _so_ sorry Thor, I didn’t mean to-” You were cut off by his laughter, which made your already visible blush turn a deep red.

“It is fine, I am not harmed. I am happy to see that you have returned here!” He exclaimed, and you relaxed slightly as his attitude.

“Thanks, we were just coming to grab some lunch, if you’d like to join?” You figured you’d ask, no harm in that, right?

His chuckles had tapered off by now. “Why of course, Lady Y/n! I have many stories to share with you!” He looked around now, “Ahh, who is this other maiden that accompanies you?”

You looked over to see Alex about to drool. “Her name’s Alex, my best friend.” You told him, and he beamed at the poor girl, who almost melted. Your stomach grumbled quietly then, as if to remind you that all you had was a nutrigrain bar and a bottle of water all day.

Thor chuckled again. “Come, let us eat!” He announced, turning back around to the kitchen, the arm still around your waist, though he was pulling you along now.

Clint laughed from somewhere behind you, and you flipped him the bird without even looking behind you. You all got to the kitchen moments later, Vision and Wanda standing near the stove where they seemed to be arguing about ingredients.

Even though they were the ones you had the least interaction with them, they greeted you and Alex kindly, and the meal passed by nicely, most of it being dominated by Thor regaling stories of his childhood on Asgard. Occasionally, he would mention Loki, and his eyes would glaze over with sadness, and you would interject with a question about something else, and he would bounce back.

After lunch, you asked what floor tony’s lab was on, and armed with directions, you made your way to almost the top floor, where you could hear the music pretty much as soon as the doors opened.

You hesitantly walked forward, careful not to step on anything. “Tony?” You called out, and there was a bang underneath one of the tables as his head popped up.

“Y/n? What can I do for you, sweetheart?” He seemed confused by your presence, if a bit pleased. “Actually, hold that thought, and c’mere for a minute.” You came forward cautiously, while he impatiently motioned you forward. “Hurry up, I’m not going to bite.”

He gave you a cheeky grin then. “ _Unless_ you ask of course.” You groaned at his blatant flirting.

“What do you need help with Tony?” You were already exasperated with his antics, but you couldn’t deny you were equally amused. It had only been a few meeting but he was charming, and there was already a healthy amount of fondness for him.

He place a block of iron in your hands. “I need you-” He gestures at you as if to emphasize his point. “To manipulate this for me.”

You squinted at him. “You’re lucky I’m so nice.” The metal in your hand slowly went from being a jagged cube into a smooth ball. Your eyes turned light brown as you muttered under your breath. _“Stupid billionaires that break into people’s houses and upend lives.”_ There was no real malice, but you figured you were aloud some complaining.

He clapped his hands, purposely ignoring your words. “Good. Thanks. Now, what did you need?”

You blinked at him, trying to remember, before it hit you. “Oh, yeah. That.”

“Yeah, that. What is that?” He asked, grabbing the metal out of your hands.

“I think I’ve made a decision about joining your boy band.” You said, and he cocked his head, gesturing you to go on. You took a deep breath. “I suppose I’d be okay with being an Avenger, but I’d better have a _badass_ outfit.”

He grinned at you. “Honey, that can sure as hell be arranged.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you guys think? Honestly, my fave part was with Thor, because he's a sweetheart and I love him. (Well, I love all of them) Please let me know what you thought, thank you for reading, and have a wonderful day!


	3. Breakfast and Harry Potter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Food, Harry Potter, and more food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey you guys, I know it's been awhile, but I'm honestly terrible for updates. I promise that I'm trying to be better, which is partially why this chapter is out now and not another month or so down the line.

You had just stepped out of the shower, towel wrapped around you when you heard your front door open. You sighed heavily, knowing that you plans of a peaceful day was over. Reaching into your closet blindly, you grabbed a black tank top and skinny jeans, pulling them on as quickly as you could.

“Who is it?” You yelled, because after the last few days, the list of people who could get into the apartment on their own had grown. (You had feeling the number would continue to get larger.)

“It’s your favourite superhero!” Came the response, just as you had pulled your hair up and out of your face.

You grumbled as you stepped into the living room, seeing Tony already tinkering with something by the window. “My favourite superheroes don’t break into my place unannounced.”

He continued working, as if he didn’t hear you, and you huffed, turning towards the kitchen to grab something to eat. You glanced back at him, seeing the bags under his eyes and decided he could use some food and a nap.

You set to work on making breakfast. Since you had the day off, it being Saturday, you figured you could go all out. You started with the bacon, and once that was in the oven, you worked on making blueberry pancakes. You were debating on whether or not to start making eggs, when there was a knock at the door.

“Come in!” You hollered, knowing that Tony was probably to busy working to care, and you couldn’t leave the pancakes.

You heard two sets of feet, and in a moment, you could see two heads of blonde in your peripheral vision. “Y/n, sorry for intruding, we came to grab Tony.” I could hear Steve say from the doorway.

You laughed lightly. “It’s fine, Tony already woke me up, plus you guys at least _knocked._ Speaking of, he’s in the living room right now, probably in his own little world. You guys want something to drink?” You turned around, having just flipped of the burner, having an impressive stack of pancakes sitting beside your stove.

“Yes, Lady Y/n, do you happen to have coffee?” Thor asked, and you smiled at him.

“Of course I do. Steve?” You looked back at him, and he shook his head slightly as if he were thinking of something. “I also have milk or orange juice if you’d like.”

“Coffee is fine.” You nodded at him, and started a pot of coffee. You pulled out eggs and cheese as the pot percolated. As you started to grate the cheese, you heard a crash in the living room, and you sighed.

“Can you two go pull Tony away from whatever he’s doing? I don’t need him destroying my apartment.” They nodded and headed into the living room. You ignored the sounds coming from the other room, just focusing on finishing your breakfast.

The eggs had just been finished when a still struggling Tony was being dragged in by a cheerful God and an exasperated super soldier. You gave the two large blondes a large smile and dropped a plate of food in front of each of them. Steve eyed it hungrily but still tried to decline it. “Y/n I can’t possibly but in on your breakfast.”

“Steve.” You rolled your eyes. “The only person who really butted in was Tony, as he didn’t knock, and he isn’t Batman.” There was an offended sound from where the half full coffee pot was.

“Thank you Lady Y/n, it smells most delicious.” Thor stated, and you gave him a kind smile.

“Thanks Thor, but you know you can just call me Y/n.” Turning to grab Tony’s plate as well as your own, you looked over at the sulking billionaire. “Stop being such a baby and eat something already.”

He scowled at you as he took the plates from your hands. “I still don’t like the fact you like Batman over me, but I will accept the peace offering.”

You laughed at him. “Dude, just don’t, anyways, dig in everyone, there is plenty of extras, don’t worry about eating too much.” It was only after the second plate of food that the two large blondes had eaten before you had realized the issue.

“Oh shit.”

~~~~~~~~~

It had been a few weeks since Tony had broken into your place to update your equipment, and your life had settled back into some semblance of normalcy. Because of how often Tony would pull you out of work at the diner, you finally quit, as long as he promised to compensate you for it. (He gave you a bit more than what you were paid, but when you brought it up he shrugged it off.)

On days where you didn’t have school, you spent them at the tower, just getting used to the large group that acted much like a family. Wanda and Vision were ones you saw often, as they weren’t brought on many missions. (Only the ones that were rough.) They were interesting, and fun to introduce new things to. Sam was funny, and was helping you practice with your air manipulation, as it was your weakest element. Thor was a lot of fun, as he also enjoyed helping you train. (You couldn’t remember the last time you had exercised your powers so thoroughly, and it was amazing.)

Steve was hard to get ahold of, and most of the time you only saw him when Nat and Clint had brought you to the gym. You had tried to get him to spar with you on more than one occasion, but he was adamant to not hurt you. You had hung out with Tony in his lab a few times, shooting ideas for your new suit back and forth, Bruce showing up randomly. You just thanked whatever higher powers that were out there that you hadn’t nerded out again.

It was a Friday, which meant that you had to get up and get ready, as you had to go train with Clint. He wanted to go over guns, as you had never really handled one. (You were told taser guns didn’t count.

You groaned, but forced yourself up, knowing that if you were late, Nat would hear and she’d be much meaner next time you guys sparred. After the first time you guys had fought, she had somehow turned it up, and it was rare for you to not get your ass kicked.

One shower and cup of coffee later, you felt less ready to maim others, and got ready for the day, grabbing an apple on your way out the door. After getting off the subway, you made your way to the shooting range he told you to meet him at.

Clint grinned at you as you walked in, and you struggled not to blush. One thing you may have forgotten to mention, you may have developed a crush on some of the Avengers. “Hey Y/n, ready to finally lose at something?” He asked, and I grimaced.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but other than the first time, I lose pretty much every time I go up against Nat.” You suddenly chugged the last half of the energy drink you had picked up on the way there, still not completely awake.

His eyes widened at this. “ _Holy hell,_ why would you do that to yourself?”

You shrugged, tossing the can into the recycling bin. “Have you ever done a three thousand word essay in one night start to finish?” When he shook his head no, you laughed. “Then I can’t explain it.”

“Well, let’s get on with it before you start shaking.” He said, and motioned for you to follow as we finally made our way over to the booth he had set up for us. (Little did he know that it had been five years since energy drinks gave you shakes, grade eleven had been hell.)

Shooting went okay, if you discounted everytime you blushed when he stood near you to correct a stance. At one point he stood behind you, his _entire_ body pressed just slightly as he moved your arms. After about one hour, he called it quits, for which you were thankful. You didn’t know how much longer you could deal with being that close to a person that handsome.

“You did good today, we’ll have to do this a few more times though.” You nodded as you gathered up your wallet, phone and keys.

Just before you could shove your phone in your pocket, it rang. Pulling it up so you could look at it, you grinned at the name and picked up. “Hey, ya little shit, why haven’t you called! It’s been forever.” Clint gave you a confused look, and you mouthed ‘explain later’ to which he nodded.

You started to leave the shooting range, Clint following with interest. “Ahh, I see, big shot lawyer, and you forget about me and Alex?” You laughed, and walked into the nearby McDonald's to grab something to eat. “No, I’m not actually mad, but I did miss you kiddo.” You told the person on the other line to wait a moment while you ordered.

“Clint, you want anything?” He shook his head, but you ordered an extra burger anyways, and told them to bring it to a table. Once sitting down, you picked the call back up. “Sorry about that… yeah I think she’d like that, as long as you bring Miggy.” You snorted. “I know you two still hang out, are you thinking of dragging him along too? You know that after that whole deal that he and I are awkward.” You sighed, and the food had been brought over. “Look, I’ll talk to you later, I’m about to eat. Yah, love you too, bye.”

Clint could no longer hold his curiosity it seemed. “Who the hell was that?” You laughed at him slightly.

“That was Q, he’s Alex’s brother, the one I went to taekwondo with. He and some old friends are coming to town this weekend and wanted to know if I wanted to get together.” The smile on your face grew as you thought of your second family.

“You two sound very close.” He grumbled slightly.

You made a face at the implication. “ _No_. We are like siblings. In high school, we tried dating, and it was so awkward. Plus Alex would murder both of us.” You pushed the extra burger you ordered towards him. “What about you? Any main squeezes?”

“Nah, I have an ex-wife, but no one currently.” He told you, and you made a face as he tore into the burger.

“It’s so weird to realize that I am the youngest in the group. I wouldn’t even be surprised to find that Tony has an illegitimate child almost the same age as me.” You laughed at the thought.

He grimaced. “Yeah.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was Saturday night, and you had just gotten back from hanging out with your highschool friends, pleasantly buzzed. You had just entered your apartment when your phone started buzzing.

You didn’t recognize the number, but you still picked up, hoping it wasn’t a telemarketer. (You may have been a bit more than buzzed, and you could not deal with a sales person right now.)

“Hello?”

“Y/n, you should come to the tower. It’s movie night, and we’re watching Harry Potter. The first three today, and the others are being watched tomorrow.” It was Wanda, and she sounded very excited, before it dawned on you that she had probably never seen them, living in Sokovia and all.

You thought it over for a moment, deciding that it might be a bit much socializing, but that it would be rude to decline when she was so happy. “Uh, sure, but could you possibly get someone to pick me up? If it’s not too much trouble.” You were dropped off by Q, and you didn’t want to ride the subway while drunk.

There was a few moments of silence as if Wanda had set the phone down before she came back. “Yes, Stark will be there soon, see you then Y/n!”

You said your goodbyes before hanging up. You debated changing out of your outfit, which was a slight bit revealing. You sighed, and threw on a baggy sweater and some comfy sneakers, the voice of your mom ringing in your head. About fifteen minutes later, you heard an engine rev loudly out front, a text lighting up your phone a second later.

You made your way downstairs, cursing stairs the entire way down. When you came to stand next to the Lexus parked on the curb, the door opened and a hand shot out, pulling you in quickly.

“What the fuck!” You yelped, as you tumbled into a lap, hearing a car door shut behind you. Looking up, you frowned at Tony, unimpressed.

Seeing your look, he held up his hands. “What?”

You huffed and righted yourself as the car started to move. “Jerk.” You muttered under your breath, doing up your seatbelt.

As the car made its way to the tower, you started to drift off, startling yourself back awake. After the third time, you lost the battle, and fell asleep, tilting yourself just enough that your head rested on his shoulder lightly.

Tony had been watching you as you fought sleep, and thought that you were adorable. When you rested your head on his shoulder, and he looked down at you fondly. The last few weeks had definitely been more interesting with you around, and he was happy to find out that you could dish out just as much sass as he could.

You looked so relaxed, which made Tony realize how stressful the past few weeks have been, your face always pinched just slightly with stress. After all, university wasn’t easy on its own, never mind work as well as dealing with the Avengers, even if you hadn’t gone on a mission yet.

Sometime later (Not enough in Tony’s opinion), the car had pulled up to the tower and he had to wake you up. Patting your shoulder lightly, he called out. “Hey, Sparky, time to wake up.”

“Mmm?” You questioned, and it took a moment for you to remember where you were. You blushed slightly when you realised what you had used as a pillow. “I am so sorry Tony.”

He just waved you off though, and you both exited the car. “Don’t sweat it, you’ve had a busy few weeks.” As you stumbled slightly on your way to the elevator he grabbed your arm to steady you. “And apparently a busy night. Didn’t realize you already were doing something tonight.”

“Nah, I had just met up with some old friends for drinks, and Wanda had called pretty much as I stepped through the door.” You told him, and he nodded. Once you got into the elevator, you blushed again. “Uh, Tony? You can let go of my arm now.” (You didn’t mind him being close, but you could smell his _cologne_ and you were drunk and you were going to say something embarrassing.)

He looked down at your arm as if he hadn’t realized that he was still holding on, and quickly let go, taking a step back. The rest of the ride up was a slightly awkward silence, and you both breathed sighs of relief as the doors opened. When you stepped into the common room, there was a round of hellos, and you did a mental headcount of who was there.

Bruce and Sam were missing, but you didn’t ask after them. Wanda was waving at you heavily, patting a spot on the couch between her and Vision. You beamed at her and walked over, managing to not sway, plopping down into the cushions.

“Wait, who here hasn’t seen these?” You asked, seeing Steve and Thor raise their hands and Vision shaking his head. “Oof.”

Wanda just let out a giggle, and pressed play, the Warner Brother logos lighting up the screen. You tried to stay awake, but you had already had a long night, and you had watched these movies that you could quote them. It was right around the sorting house ceremony that you nodded off, your head on Wanda’s shoulder.

When the first movie had ended, Vision had left to grab refills on snacks. When he returned to his seat, you had thrown your legs over his lap, effectively trapping him there. For a moment, he looked at Wanda, confused as to what was happening, but calmed at the soft smile she gave him.

As they made their way through the next movie, Wanda carefully moved your head from her shoulder down to her lap, which you snuggled further into.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Both Vision and Wanda had a hard time focusing on the films, for the same reasons.

Wanda was amazed at how calming Y/n’s presence was to her. It was like being in the presence of the sun, warm and inviting, heating you from the inside out. She was a little awkward at times, but it was more adorable than anything else. She was kind, and was always willing to explain things, but her wittiness when talking with Stark was entertaining.

So Wanda pet her hair as she slept, basking in the warmth she gave off.

Meanwhile, Vision was reveling in the warm weight of Y/n’s legs, happy to have you close to him. He always enjoyed her presence, as she never minded having to tell him things that most people assumed he should know. He compared her to the sun, but for a different reason than most would. She was like the center of the solar system, everyone orbiting around her even after such a short time, himself included.

So Vision sat there, orbiting around his sun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Steve had gone to grab refills between the second and third movies, he saw Y/n passed out on top of Wanda and Vision. On his way back he draped a blanket over them, Vision nodding in thanks, as Wanda had started to doze.

By the time the third movie was over, Vision was the only one still awake. Natasha and Clint had stolen the loveseat and were curled up on it, while Steve and Tony had taken an armchair each, light snores coming from Steve’s direction. Thor had stretched himself across the other couch, halfway hanging off of it.

Silently, Vision asked Friday to turn off the tv, and settled in to sleep himself.

~~~~~~~~

The next morning, you awoke slowly, which was a nice change as opposed to the rudeness of your alarm clock. You went to sit up and grab your phone, which made you realise a few things.

One, you were not in your apartment.

Two, you were on a couch with two other people.

Three, you had been drinking last night.

You groaned lightly, and opened your eyes to see Vision leaning backwards. (Asleep, you concluded. Or, the Android version, you supposed.) Wanda was leaning on his shoulder, and you grinned at them, and very carefully removed yourself from their laps.

Now reluctantly standing, you draped the blanket that was over yourself lightly over the two still occupying the couch, and made your way to the kitchen in search of coffee. You were quiet, seeing as the others hadn’t moved, other than Steve who had already left on his morning run. You had managed to get the coffee pot to work on your own, thank goodness, and peeked into the fridge for something to eat.

When you saw the stuff you needed for french toast you pulled it out. “Friday, where can I find a mixing bowl and a frying pan?” You asked as quietly as you could manage.

Two cabinet doors swung open, and you gave her a hushed thanks, getting started. Once you had the first couple pieces of bread in the pan and had downed an entire cup of coffee, you reached into your pocket to check your phone, and realized that you had four missed calls and a text from Alex.

Figuring you had enough battery to make a call, you dialed her number. You knew she was pissed when she didn’t even bother to say hello before she started questioning you.

“Where are you?” She demanded, and you winced.

“I’m at the Avengers tower.” You answered, and continued before she could continue. “I know, I forgot that we were supposed to hang out today, but I fell asleep here and I woke up like twenty minutes ago.”

She huffed. “I swear, it’s like you enjoy giving me heart attacks. It’s cool, I know that past few weeks have been hard on you, I’m giving you a pass, this time. Hang out, have fun, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“You got it, bye Alex.”

“Bye hun.” With that, you hooked up your earbuds and threw on some of the more upbeat T øp songs on low, so you could hear the others get up. You had gotten into the groove of cooking soon enough, and there was a plate full of french toast sitting beside you when you heard two sets of feet coming your way.

Turning around, you saw Nat and Clint coming your way, so you pulled out one earbud. You gave them a soft smile which they returned with smirks. “You guys want coffee?” You offered, to which they gave twin nods.

You quickly pulled out two mugs, and a third one when you realized if there wasn’t a cup waiting for Tony he was going to be insufferable. You were so focused that it took a minute that you were asked something. “Hmm?” You asked, turning around and setting their mugs down.

You blushed slightly when you realized how rude that must’ve been, only to get a chuckle from the archer. “I was just wondering what you’re listening to.”

“Uhh, I think this one is called Lovely, and it’s Twenty One Pilots.” You answered, and went to grab some more plates and cutlery.

“I never would have pegged you for enjoying their music.” Natasha said, and you laughed lightly.

“Yeah, a couple years ago I was hardcore into them, but now it’s just occasional, depends on my mood.” It was then you could hear groaning from the armchair. “Sounds like Tony’s up.” When he finally made his way over you set down his cup in front of him.

He took a large gulp before speaking. “You are an angel, you know that?” You hmmed at him as you looked for the syrup. Finding it, you set it down on the table, alongside the plates and french toast.

“Thankyou, now eat before it gets cold.” You told the three of them, turning back to the stove, popping your earbud back in. You swayed slightly to the beat, not seeing the soft smiles behind your back as hummed.

You were working on the third plate, learning from the last time you had cooked for both of the teams blondes at once, when a heavy hand landed on your shoulder, startling you enough to jump, and the burner to flare heavily. “Lady Y/n! Good morning, I hope your sleep was enjoyable!” You grinned at the loud god of thunder.

“Morning Thor, I slept okay. I’ve told you before, just Y/n is fine.”

“Oh, I see you’ve returned back to reality.” Tony commented, and you realised that everyone was awake now, and had taken a seat at the island, and you blushed slightly.

“Sorry, I tend to disappear into my own world when cooking, or baking.” You shuffled lightly, embarrassed.

Steve gave you a small smile. “It’s fine, but maybe you should come eat before it’s all gone.” He suggested, and you did, turning off the stove and pulling the last few pieces out of the pan.

You were still shaky from when Thor startled you, so you grabbed yourself a plate and leaned against the counter, just watching as the lot of them started bickering over something. (You had heard them argue so many times by now it was white noise.

Taking a sip of your coffee, you smiled. They were superheroes, and you may have a slight crush on them, but they were still people, and you reveled in being able to watch them like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So? What did you think? I don't know if the Avengers are being to forward, or if reader is catching feelings too fast, but I love seeing them interact. Anyways, the poll on who the reader should be with is still open, so please let me know who you think it should be. Remember, you can vote for multiple. Have a great day and thanks for reading!


	4. The No Good, Horrible, Really Bad Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad day turns into worse mission, turns into missing classes. But hey, at least you get that cool suit you asked for, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here we are, the reader's first mission! Due to how light this chapter is in comparison to how I had planned it, next chapter is definitely going to be more angst filled. SO yeah. This is your new symbol, I thought it fitting https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/483503709971538334/ . Anyways, please let me know what you think and enjoy!

It had been a rough day, and you were done. You had pulled a double shift at the Black Dragon as a favour to your step sister, so you woke up late for class. Not only that, you tripped and fell down a handful of stairs, meaning your were sore as hell, and then an asshole who couldn’t take a hint had stood beside you on the subway.

So instead of heading home, you headed to the tower, and immediately went for the gym. (The one brightside was that you wore a pair of tights and a sports bra under your shirt.) You stormed over to the punching bags, hooking one up quickly before taking a moment to but on some music. When _Not Afraid_ was blaring loud enough to give you premature hearing loss, you put away your phone and started punching.

You lost track of time, hitting the bag in front of you as an escape, the repetitive action calming you.

That calm abruptly ended when a hand landed on your shoulder, making you whirl around and before you realised who it was, you had socked them in the jaw. Looking downward to see Steve sitting on the floor rubbing his jaw, your mouth dropped open in shock and you quickly paused your music, kneeling down next to him.

“Oh my god Steve? Are you okay? I am _so_ sorry I didn’t-” He waved you off, making you pause your apologetic ramble.

“It’s fine, I shouldn’t have startled you like that” You quickly stood up, giving a hand to help him up. “Was just wondering what had got you so mad that there was such heavy winds.”

He chuckled, and you blushed slightly. “It’s been a rough day, and I figured this was a good way to blow off steam.”

“Well, do you think you’d be up for a spar after blowing off that much steam?” He joked, and you did an overdramatic double take at him.

“Oh my lord, do mine eyes deceive me? Has Mr. thanks-but-i-wouldn’t-want-to-hurt-you finally asked me to spar?” He rolled his eyes as you put your hand on your forehead and clutched your heart.

“You spend too much time with Tony, Y/n.” He told you half-seriously.

You shrugged your shoulders. “Nah, Tony’s cool, lets me pick his brain. Anyways, yeah, I could go for some sparring.”

He gestured to the mats, and you both made your way over, where you quickly set your phone over with your shirt. Getting into a ready position, he counted down with his fingers, and you shot at him as soon as it was over, feeling more aggressive than normal.

You decided that sparring with Steve should happen more often, it had been awhile since you had fought someone larger than you. It was refreshing, and reminded you of home and practicing with Q, dodging and ducking for the most part. You managed to get a few hits in here and there, not that you had any illusion about how much damage you were doing.

All of a sudden, he grabbed one of your feet before you could pull it closer to yourself, using the grip to flip you. Now on your back, you tried to get back to your feet, but was pinned by him straddling your legs and pinning your arms above your head. You were panting heavily at this point, yet you could see that Steve’s breath was coming a little heavier than before.

You could tell he had been sweating, the white T-shirt he wore clung to him and you had to pry your eyes from ogling his chest. “Looks like you won, Captain.” You remarked, and a small smirk came over his face.

“Do I get a prize?” He asked, and you froze for a second, before your brain caught up and you blushed. You pretended to debate the question, as he leaned closer, and you stared into his eyes, pulling closer as well. Your lips were now close enough to feel the heat coming off of them, that heat mirrored in his eyes, making you shiver.

“Captain Rogers? Your presence is being requested in the lab.” Friday’s voice came over the speakers and you both jolted away from each other as though you had been shocked.

You laughed at yourself, standing up quickly to grab your phone, only to see a missed call from Tony, and your mom. You sighed at the second one, deciding to listen to Tony’s message.

“Hey Ivy, we need you to come over to the tower. This is it, kiddo, first mission.” Your eyes widened, and you quickly threw on your shirt, sending a quick ‘on my way’ text as you did so.

“Welp, guess duty calls.” You told him, getting a nod in return as you headed towards the elevator. “Do ya think Tony knew I was here?”

Steve shook his head. “Nah, well, maybe. It’s kinda hit or miss with him. He either knows everything, or is completely oblivious.”

You smiled at the thought. “Yeah, that sounds about right.” A slightly awkward silence fell over the both of you, and you spent the time there was processing what had just happened. Had you really almost kissed Captain America? Sure, you thought he was sweet, and maybe just a tad attractive, (You were getting better at the whole lying to yourself thing.) but you thought that about a _couple_ other of them too.

Getting to the lab, you saw Tony discussing something quietly with Clint and Nat. They turned in our direction as the door swung open, and Tony’s face scrunched slightly. “I didn’t realize you were already here, I would have gotten Friday to call you.”

You shrugged. “Figured that I could use a workout, plus I don’t have to pay for a membership.” 

Natasha looked between you and Steve, a devilish grin showing up on her features. “Anyways, since we’re all here, we can get started early.” She gestures to Tony, who was typing. The redhead rolled her eyes before elbowing, making him glare at her before speaking.

“So, since you are much further along in training than I initially thought you’d be, we figured you’re ready for your first mission. Which means…” He paused dramatically as both Nat, Clint, and Steve rolled your eyes in union. (You were kinda impressed, whether it was by how in-sync they were or how often Tony must pull stupid stuff, you didn’t know.)

He tapped something on one of his displays, and a panel on one wall opened up. “You get your suit!” He threw his arms out and you huffed out a small laugh, just looking at your suit. You may have been throwing around ideas for it with Tony for awhile now, but you definitely were not expecting something like this.

The top looked like a normal long sleeve, except for the material, which resembled Nat’s catsuit. The bottoms were a sturdy pair of cargo pants, and you grinned when you saw they were high waisted. There were knee length boots that laced up, which you immediately fell in love with. (You had a soft spot for boots, and they looked so comfy.)

But the best part was the jacket. Well, jacket was an understatement, a more accurate term would be a trench coat, but even that was entirely accurate. It was long enough that it would end around your ankles, and you could tell even while it sat in the display case, that it would flair out while running. It had a zipper that run up the front, and there was a belt hanging beside it that you realized was a bandolier. The entire outfit was black, except for the seams, which were a dark purple.

You shook your head slightly, turning to Tony, a large grin on your face. “This is awesome Tony, thanks.” Walking forward, you threw your arms around him, drawing him into a hug. “You don’t get enough credit.” You whispered low enough that no one else could hear, before you pulled back.

“Uhh, yeah, not a problem. Most of us had an outfit before the Avengers anyways.” He was still a bit stunned by the hug, he felt the warmth of your lips next to his ear even as he walked over to the suit. “So, there are a few extra goodies that I need to fill you on. Follow me.”

You nodded as he grabbed some stuff from a drawer in his workbench, and followed as he led you out into the hallway next to the lab. “What extra goodies?” You asked, not sure how it got better.

“Well, there’s a few things. First, the entire outfit is temperature regulated, so it should keep you from overheating for this mission. Second.” He handed you a bundle of cloth. “Gloves. They are fingerless, as per your request, there are actual gloves when we go somewhere cold. Fireproof and waterproof, all of it, and one final thing.”

He held out a piece of metal, and you teared up slightly when you realized what it was. It was a heart, the symbols for all for of the elements you controlled on it. “Tony, you’re amazing.” You whispered, and he smiled at you.

“Yeah, well, you needed something, everyone has something. And it might help you come up with a name, you said you haven’t gotten one yet.” He mumbled, trying to force down the blush he got at your sincerity. “Anyways, we have stuff to do, so go get dressed. You know where the bathroom is.”

You gave him a sweet smile, turning around to do just that, but realized something. “Hey Tony, isn’t my suit still in the lab?”

“Nah, that’s the backup, I put another in the bathroom, now hurry up, I need to know if it fits.” He turned back towards the lab, and you went to change.

Once in the bathroom, stripping to your underwear, the reality hit you. Even though you had been hanging around these guys for a month and a half now, this was going to be your first time with the possibility of injury. You felt your breathing start getting heavier, and you reached for the outfit, desperate for something else to think about.

Pulling on your gloves, you finally looked into the mirror, and it took a second for you to realize that it was you there. The outfit seemed to make you want to straighten your back, as opposed to your normally slouched posture. You used the small confidence boost to shake off the majority of your fear for the moment, and picked up the emblem Tony had given you. You tried to figure out where to put it, and finally decided to put it on your jacket, directly over your heart.

You marveled at how the suit heated right under the metal, and when you tried to pull it off in curiosity, it stuck there as if it had been welded on.

Walking back towards the lab, you opened the door, blushing lightly at the attention that was now focused, and it got even brighter at the low whistle from Clint before Nat swatted his head. “Looks good, fit alright?” Tony asked, and you nodded. “So, moving on, let’s get down to business.” He gestured to Cap, who nodded, his face now a blank slate, the others following suit.

“Alright, we’re going to be intercepting a drug cartel deal going down in Cancun, Mexico. They’re gonna be meeting tonight in a warehouse close to the edge of the city, so we don’t have to worry too hard about civilians for this. Rumor is Hydra’s involved, which is why Fury wants us working on this case.” He outlined the mission, and you got chills when you heard Hydra was part of it. Sure, you knew they still existed, especially after that whole thing with the helicarriers going down in Washington, but it was still scary to think about.

“Our job, is to search the warehouse for any connections to Hydra, stop the deal from happening, and bringing in one from each side for questioning.” He looked at the clock, obviously doing the math on when you’d have to leave before finishing. “Wheels up in one hour.”

Nat, Clint, and Steve left shortly after, and you went to grab your phone. You stared down at your phone, debating on whether or not to listen to your moms message before leaving. You sighed, closing your phone app, and texted Alex that you’d be gone for the night, and that you’d be back most likely sometime tomorrow.

“What’s gotcha down?” Tony asked, where he was tinkering with a circuit board of some kind.

You smiled over at him. “Family drama.” You knew about his parents, wasn’t hard when you had looked up everyone a week after you started coming, so you didn’t divulge anything, not wanting to bring anything up.

He looked over at you, and something must have shown through your smile, because he set down what he was working on. “Wanna talk about it?” You could see how hard he was trying to be casual, and it was kinda funny, making you crack a real grin.

Shaking your head, you responded. “No, I’ll deal with it when I get back, she can wait that long.” He hmmed at you, and a comfortable silence fell over the room, so you pulled your phone out and put in your headphones.

You bobbed your head slightly as you opened up a mindless app, keeping an eye on the time.

~~~~~

About fifty minutes later, you stood to get up. You started towards the elevator, hearing Tony suit up behind you, catching up to you before the doors opened. When you got in, he laid a metal covered hand on your shoulder.

“Be careful, okay?” He told you, and you nodded at him.

“You too.”

~~~~~~~

Since the quinjet was twice as fast as a commercial jet without hitting the gas, your four hour flight was cut to an hour and a half, as Cap wanted to scout the area before.

The mission had been going exactly as planned, which you were thankful for. You and Cap (You had decided to refer to him as this when on missions, made it easier to be professional.) were breaking up the deal while Nat was rifling through the office for any documents. Clint was on lookout for reinforcements while Tony was there for hacking security and backup if things got messy.

The Captain had managed to knock out most of them on his own, you were mostly just clean up crew, knocking out the people he missed, so you didn’t even use your powers much, which made you sad.

You were busy grabbing the leaders from each side when you heard something clatter against the ground.

It was like the world went in slow motion as you saw the grenade roll across the room towards the both of you. As fast as you could manage, you threw an air bubble around it and pulled a thick slab of the concrete flooring up.

Even as you did these things, the grenade went off, throwing you back just before the concrete wall, sending you to the ground, your skull bouncing off the ground. You still focused on the wall though, as you didn’t want Cap hurt.

When you felt a hand shaking your shoulder, you groaned and opened your eyes. (When did you close them?) Steve was looking down at you (And it was Steve, not Cap) with a mix of concern and amazement.

“Y/n, are you okay? Your eyes are…” He trailed off and you frowned. He knew your eyes changes colours when you exercised an element, right? He pulled you up off the ground, and you almost threw up once on your feet, bringing a hand to your head. When you felt something sticky and wet, you pulled away your hand, and let out a small noise at the sight of blood running down your fingers.

The rest of the night was a blur. You could remember Steve picking you up, and carrying to the jet, the ride back, and getting checked over by Bruce.

But it was like looking in from the outside, like you weren’t in your own body. You weren’t _really_ there when Tony told you that you were staying the night at the tower, just nodding when he directed you to a room and said that you’d have to be woken up every couple hours to make sure the concussion you had been diagnosed with was nothing more than that.

You fell asleep easy enough, the day you day before the mission taking its toll, nevermind getting knocked around like that.

You remembered getting woken up a couple times that night, once by Bruce, then Tony, Clint showed up next, and Wanda were who you could remember. When you woke up the next morning and analyzed these things, you were a tad disappointed that Steve hadn’t come to check on you.

Sighing, you rolled over to find your clothes from yesterday folded up on your nightstand with a note on top. You grabbed the note, and gave a small grin at the writing, even with the killer headache you had.

_ Hey Gaia, _

_ You might have a slight headache when you get up, that’s normal. You did manage a heavy concussion during the mission after all. Don’t worry about school or work, I managed to call in for you. (Rayvin told me to tell you that you were getting a lecture the next time you saw her.) Alex is upstairs in the common room, you should join us. _

_ Your favourite Avenger, _

_ Tony _

Getting up, you pulled off what you had woken up in, a pair of plain black pjs. (You prayed it was Nat that changed you.) Dressing quickly, you decided that you needed food soon as possible.

Wandering out of the bedroom, you saw a glass of water sitting next to a couple pills, a post it. You went over to the coffee table where they lay, and a relieved smile came over your face at who wrote it.

_ Feel better, _

_ Steve _

You downed the pills, which you could see were just a couple Advil, and looked upward.

“Hey Friday, which way to the common room?” You asked.

“The door to your right and straight down the hallway to the elevator miss Y/n.” The AI responded politely. You gave you thanks before following the instructions, putting in the right floor.

The smell of breakfast hit you immediately as you stepped off the elevator, and you let your nose guide you to where the smell of food was. You smiled at the sight of everyone in the kitchen, acting as normal as usual. Alex saw you first, and waved you over.

You wandered over to her, the others turning and smiled at you as you entered. She patted the seat beside you, and you plopped down, a plate of waffles smothered in whipped cream and fruit being placed in front of you a moment later. Alex gave you a side hug while you drooled at the _glorious_ sight.

Looking up, you saw Clint smiling down at you. “You need to eat after getting your brain knocked around like that.” He told you, and you smiled your thanks at him before digging in.

Glancing around as you ate, you saw that Steve wasn’t there, and you frowned slightly. You tried to tell yourself he was just on his morning run, but when you saw the clock on the microwave, you saw it was almost ten. That was well past when he was normally back.

As you ate, the others filled you in on some things that had apparently been decided for you while you slept off your concussion. (Or most of it, anyways.) You were to stay here for the next couple days, and even though you thought that might be overkill, as you already felt back to normal, you agreed.

When they said that you had your own apartment, you were appropriately shocked. (“How long has that been a thing?” You had asked Tony, and he shrugged. Nat had leaned over and told you a week after you had said yes to being an Avenger.)

After that information dump, you let out a large yawn. Everyone looked at you and you felt a blush rise on your face. Thor stood and came to stand beside you, placing a large hand on your shoulder.

“Come, you require rest. I will make sure you return to your new quarters safely.” He said, and you opened your mouth to argue, only to have Tony hold up a hand.

“Humor us Sparky. You gave us a big scare there, we just wanna make sure you’re good to go.” His voice held a seriousness that it rarely had, so you simply nodded your head, and allowed Thor to lead you to the elevator, his arm wrapped around your shoulder.

Your blush got dark when you realized that he wasn’t wearing his normal armor, so you could feel his impressive muscles through the shirt. He must he felt you tense, because he was staring into your eyes now, and you were suddenly lost in the storm of emotions that hid behind his cheery exterior.

“Y/n, are you well?” He questioned, and you mentally shook yourself.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” You thanked whatever gods (no pun intended) made the elevator open at that moment.

He lead you to the door of your apartment, and he let go as you went to open the door. “Sleep well, Y/n. You need to recover soon, I no longer have anyone who is willing to play with lightning.” He smirked slightly at this, and you couldn’t believe that he could look even more attractive. (But there he was.)

“Yeah, thanks for walking me down Thor.” He brushed a kiss over you forehead, and you were frozen as he disappeared back around the corner into the elevator.

You managed to get yourself back under control relatively quickly, and made your way back to your bed. As soon as you lied down, your mind went over the last few weeks. Falling asleep on Tony, and then Wanda and Vision, Clint acting jealous towards Q, almost kissing Steve, and then that whole thing with Thor kissing your forehead.

You groaned, rolling over and burying your face in one of the ridiculously plush pillows. You could rule out liking quite a few of them at this point. It was just, now that you had gotten to this point, you didn’t know what to do.

Laughing at yourself, you rationalized that they probably didn’t even like you back, all of them were amazing people who had done more in a week than you had in their entire life. None of them would ever like a silly little girl like yourself. You continued to laugh, even if there was a tinge of sadness to it.

Glancing at your phone sitting on your nightstand, you grabbed it just for something to do. Opening the lock screen, you replied to a few of your friends from classes, stoutly ignoring the notification symbol coming from your phone app for as long as you could manage, before you finally broke, and went to check the voicemail your mother had left you a day ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to my friend Ray for helping me plan quite a few aspects of this chapter, as well as pushing me to finish it withing a reasonable time frame. Thank her for this update. Anyways, I need to know how much family drama you want, bc it does have the potential to change the whole course of the plot, and your own backstory. And, as always, suggestions on who to end up with. The options have been narrowed down to: Steve, Thor, Tony, Clint, Natasha, or any combo of these guys. Anyways, thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!


	5. High School Never Ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> High school-esque drama, a Panic attack, and you finally get to go home! Also a bit more about your family drama.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to start this off with an apology, as this chapter kicked my ass while I was trying to write it, and therefore isn't my best work. Nonetheless, i hope you enjoy!  
> Also, trigger warning for panic attacks.

Steve had felt bad for avoiding you, he really did. But he just couldn’t get the image from his head of you on that concrete floor. The dazedness in your eyes concerning, and everytime he remembered the blood on your face he winced.

Logically, he knew that you were fine, and it was only a concussion. He knows that, yet it was his job to keep you safe, especially with how it was your first mission.

If he was truly honest with himself, that wasn’t the entire reason he was avoiding you. He kept thinking back to just before the mission, when you were so close, and it made him groan because he was bad at deciphering feelings on the best of days.

So yeah, he was kinda sorta avoiding you.

He was working on it, okay?!

~~~~~~~

You were laying on your bed, trying to process the information that had just been dumped on you. Opening that voicemail was a bad idea, and you knew it was, but you just couldn’t help yourself, because even with the slightly rough history between the two of you, you never could stop yourself from helping her.

You were glad that this was at least keeping your mind off your mission. Or at least, it was. Now all you could think of was the sound of the grenade against the floor, and  _ stopsaveprotec- _

Your breathing picked up, and suddenly it was like you were drowning. You shook heavily, trying to figure out what was going on, but it was like you couldn’t process anything, mind moving a mile a minute.

It took you a second for you to register the hands on your shoulders, and you glanced up from your huddled form, (When did that happen?) to see a concerned pair of warm, brown eyes looking down at you.

“Hey, hey. C’mon Spyro, focus on me, and my breathing.” Tony placed a hand on yours, and dragged it to the pulse point on his neck. “Breath with me, okay? In, out.” You tried, but it was like everything was underwater, your mind moving too fast and like molasses at the same time.

Eventually, the glassiness in your eyes receded, and when Tony realized this, he pulled you into a hug. You blinked, finally processing the situation. “Tony? What are you doing here?” You asked, still thoroughly confused.

He pulled back, and you lamented the lack of warmth for just a second. “Y/n, you’re here to be monitored for your concussion, so Friday let me know when your vitals signals showed you were having a panic attack.” You nodded, scrunching your eyebrows. A panic attack hadn’t really happened before, nervousness, sure, but nothing like what just happened.

“Oh.” You said, not knowing how to respond.

He finally cracked a small smile. “Yeah, Oh. Look, how about you get some more rest, since you obviously haven’t since Thor dropped you off.” He said, and you nodded. When he went to leave, you made a small noise, and he turned back around.

“Could you maybe, stay here? Just for a bit.” You were still shaken, but you didn’t want Tony cracking wise as he so often did. You weren’t expecting his eyes to soften, and for him to come and sit by the head of the bed.

“Alright, get on in.” He told you, and you nodded, scooching down into a comfy position, and smiled as Tony laid down beside you. “Now remember, sleep only. You haven’t taken me out to dinner yet, so…” He trailed off, and you smacked him lightly.

You could deal with those kind of jokes, you thought as you drifted off.

~~~~~~~~

When you woke up, it was to a knock at the door, and you grimaced when you realized you were alone. (You did say only a bit.) “Come in.” You told whoever was at the door.

Wanda and Vision stood at the door, each holding a delicious smelling plate of lasagna. They entered, the door automatically closing behind them. “Hello Y/n, how are you?” Vision asked, perching himself in the armchair in the room.

You gave him a weak, but true smile. “I’ve been better, but I’m almost good to go.” He passed you the plate and you gave him your thanks. Since they were both a couple years younger than you, it was as if you had adopted these two as your own. You had become Wanda’s support, and helped Vision with clarifying human emotions he couldn’t understand.

Wanda came to sit with you on the bed. “We figured you could probably use a bit without the others trying to coddle you.” You hmmed at her, already starting to eat.

“So, what have you guys been up to in the last couple days?” You saw Vision perk up in his seat a little, and it made you smile. Even if he was originally an AI, he had been becoming more with each day, and it was amazing to watch.

“Wanda and I have begun watching Supernatural, and though I do not understand some of the references made, I enjoy the storyline so far.” You listen intently as he describes the plot of the series, even if you’d already seen it to season 5. Wanda would pipe in between, filling in pieces that Vision did not.

Soon enough, dinner was gone, and when you yawned, they gathered up the dishes. You gave them both a large hug before they left (Vision was still a tad awkward with hugs, but you were working on it.), and went to sit on your bed when they were gone.

The day had been emotionally exhausting, and you fell asleep with little effort.

~~~~~~~~~

The next day, you tried to get into the gym, only for Friday to bring you to the common room instead. When you entered and no one was there, you decided to take advantage. With the weather growing colder, you had been wanting to make something warm and with unhealthy amounts of sugar.

“Friday? Could you play the RWBY soundtrack?” You asked, already scrolling through potential recipes on your phone.

“Of course miss Y/n.” The opening song for the second season played as you found something that looked too good not to try.

_ Now it’s time to say goodbye, _

_ To the things we loved, and the innocence of youth, _

_How the time seemed to fly_

_ From our carefree lives and the solitude and peace we always knew _

You sung very lowly, as you began gathering ingredients. You never particularly thought you were any good at singing, but you enjoyed it nonetheless. As you put in your brownie/chocolate chip cookie in a pan, you heard the opening chords to a song that had always made you sad.

You changed the playlist, not wanting to get emotional at that moment. “Friday play Victorious by Panic, please.”

You relaxed when the more upbeat song came on, and belted out the lyrics as you cleaned up your mess. You were left to your own devices until a little after you had pulled your creation out of the oven. Turning around, you almost bumped directly into Thor, who was looking at the brownie/cookie as if it were the most delicious thing in the universe.

He shook his head slightly, and looked down, as if he only just noticed you. “Ahh, Y/n? You look as radiant as the sun today, we may be able to train together sooner than I thought!” His complement made you blush heavily.

“I hope so Thor, anyways, do you wanna help me try out the stuff in the pan?” The whole reason for baking was for it to get eaten, right? And Thor could probably tear through three of those things.

You always enjoyed Thor’s company. He was a good storyteller, and held much more depth than most people saw. Handing him his plate, you looked up at him only to see his eyes boring into you. “Y/n, what is it that troubles you?”

You gave him a weak smile, knowing it wouldn’t work, but needing to try anyways. “I’m fine, just a bit tired still.” Even though you knew he wouldn’t accept your poor excuse, you were surprised to find him suddenly holding your wrist.

“I may be dense at times, but I am brother to the god of lies. I can spot a poor one when I see it.” His eyes were a stormy blue, and you could see the hundreds of years of gain and loss, life and death, that was normally so well concealed. “Please, you know that I am always willing to assist in times of strife.”

“It’s, well-” You tried to come up with a way to explain it without going into detail. “My mother is getting married.” Looking away from his eyes, you could tell he was confused.

“M’lady, as often as I am lost when it comes to Midgard traditions, is this not a good thing?” His hand had loosened around your wrist, and you pulled away just slightly.

Snorting, you went to grab the emergency scotch Tony kept behind the crackers on the bottom shelf in the corner. “Yeah, well, your confusion is somewhat warranted. I know I’m supposed to be happy for her, but that’s kinda hard considering who she’s marrying.”

“Do you not approve of who she has chosen?” You laughed slightly as you poured yourself three fingers, and then added another for good luck.

“You could say that. Me and him go back a bit, and we’ve never liked each other. It’s always sat between dislike and hate. I didn’t even know they were dating, not until last night.” You downed the entire thing, trying to focus on something other than the conversation.

He frowned at you then. “Do you talk to each other often?”

“Not since I turned seventeen. She wanted me to cut contact with my Dad, and I told her she could shove it. Told me to leave, and not to come back until I saw Dad the way she did.” You glanced at the bottle, (You could already feel some of the effects of the glass, but you thought another glass wouldn’t kill you.) before pouring yourself another four fingers.

“If that is so, why is she telling you who she is marrying? Or even that she is engaged?” He asked, and you almost missed it while you were downing your second glass.

“I'm only guessing, but was probably all the groom’s idea. He’ll never pass up a chance to egg me on.” You mumbled, deciding that sitting would be a good idea.

Thor tilted his head. “Is your mother aware of the relationship between you two?”

Debating on whether or not it was worth drinking directly from the bottle, you shook your head. “Nope, I doubt she told him, and I haven’t spilt the beans.” Deciding you could pay Tony back later, you took a large swig from the bottle. “Alright, enough of me being a sad sack. I’m going to go back to bed. Thanks for the company, and enjoy the food.”

You got up, and started to make your way back to the elevator, when you stumbled, pitching forward. (Vaguely you can hear your inner Alex saying ‘I told you so.’) Before you can hit the ground, a pair of strong arms gripped you around your waist, pulling you back into a standing position.

Looking backwards, you saw Steve standing right behind you, a mix of concern and relief on his face. “You okay Y/n?”

“Yeah Steve, I’m just freaking peachy.” You couldn’t be bothered to deal with your feelings for him right now, to buzzed and just in general frustrated.

His hold loosened on you, and you stepped out of his arms. (His arms truly were one of his best attributes, your mind whispered to you. Along with his abs, that face, and _oh_ can’t forget his eyes.) Turning around to face him, you saw that he was just standing there with his arms outstretched, like he wanted to pull you back to him. You shook these thoughts from your head, knowing that from the last couple days of silence that he didn’t want anything like that with you.

“Could we find a place to talk? Alone maybe?” He asked, and you saw over his shoulder that Thor seemed to be giving Steve a dark look.

Knowing it was a bad idea, you nodded anyway. “Sure, we can go to the roof. Shouldn’t be too many people up there this time of day.” The two of you made your way to the elevator, and you were completely blaming your blush on the alcohol.

You were silent as the elevator moved upwards, trying to sober yourself up for a conversation that would no doubt be exhausting. Every now and then, you would see Steve glance over at you, before glancing away guiltily.

The elevator doors opened, and you swiftly exited, making your way to the far corner of the roof. Even though you could tell no one else was there, you wanted to be as far away from any recording devices as possible.

Sitting down on the edge of the roof, you let the cool wind help calm you down. Kicking your feet, you waited as Steve came to seat himself across from you. You didn’t look up at him as you spoke, your mind running at a mile a minute.

“So, what’s up Steve?”

A nervous chuckle was heard, and a part of you was glad that he was feeling similar to you. Nervous and uncertain. “Well, it’s about what happened, um-” He cut off for a moment, before taking a deep breath and forging ahead. “What happened, right before the mission. Look, Y/n, I really do think you’re a great woman, and I-” His voice faltered again, and you almost felt bad for him.

A large sigh was audible before one of his hands cupped your jaw, forcing you to look into his eyes. “I’m not good when it comes to pretty women, as I’m sure you can tell.” You giggled, and he relaxed slightly. “But I really like you, and I was wondering-”

“Capsicle! Have you seen Y/n, Friday said she was out here with you…” Tony had burst through the elevator doors, but stopped short when he saw how the two of you were sitting. Steve’s had on your jaw, faces inches away from each other, blushes from both sides. His normal cocky grin slipped for just a moment, before coming back full force.

(If it was a bit more plastic than usual, who would know?)

“Ahh, I see. I’ll leave you two kids to it then! Remember to use protection!” He hollered over his shoulder as he promptly returned to the elevator, intent on working in the lab for the next couple days.

Frowning at the billionaires strange behaviour, you turned back to Steve. “You were saying?”

Steve blushed, his momentum gone. He was now aware just how close the two of you had become, noses almost touching, and Steve could feel your breath against his skin. “It’s, it’s nothing. I’m sorry I haven’t been around since the mission.” He told you pulling back, and you mourned the loss of heat.

You smiled up at him. “It’s cool, I was just worried that we weren’t friends anymore.” Steve felt his his heart turn to lead. “We are friends, right?” Your hopeful eyes were to much for him to handle, and he nodded.

“Yeah, friends.”

~~~~

The next day you were finally allowed back to your place, no longer needing the supervision. (You appreciated their concern, but it had gotten old quick, and exhausting.) Sighing as you closed the door, the auto lock clicking shut behind you, before quickly going to the kitchen. It was rainy and cold outside, thunder rumbling in the distance, and you definitely didn’t want to work.

It was time for tea, movies, and absolutely not thinking about anything avengers related.

Thankfully there were no world ending events that night, as you were curled up on the couch (With your favourite blanket you got from your Nana.) while the opening of the Hunger Games started playing on your tv screen. Snuggling further in, you got ready to be angry at Peeta’s existence once more.

About the time Katniss volunteers herself, your mind drifts back to Steve. And Tony. Annnnddd…… Thor. It was at this point you’d like to point out that they are unfairly attractive, and any thoughts you may have about them are not your fault.

It’s just, you didn’t know what to think about it, because there was no way it was feasible with even one of them, never mind all three. Slapping yourself on the cheek lightly, you brought your train of thought back under control.

No. Movies. Tea. _No_ avengers.

You refocused on the movie, hoping that your mind would actually listen to you for once. But of course, ten minutes later, it popped back up.

But _what if?_

Getting frustrated with yourself, you decided maybe if you discussed why it was a bad idea out loud, you would stop the stupid ideas.

“No, there is no possible way that it could happen. They’re all basically perfect, and that’s not what I am. I can’t have a crush on them, it is not allowed. C’mon Y/n, you work with these guys! Professional workplace conduct, you know better than to flirt with your coworkers!” You realized that if anyone could see you they’d probably think you were insane, talking to an empty room.

Whatever. Not like there was anyone to see you have a meltdown.

~~~~~~~~

Vision sat in the living room with Wanda, continuing to watch Supernatural, when the elevator doors opened and Tony stormed in. The android turned to see him stomp into the kitchen area, rummaging through the upper cupboards, pulling out a large bottle of what he presumed to be alcohol. Knowing that this wasn’t too far out of the norm for the genius, he turned back to his show.

The next time the door opened, another set of heavy footfalls were heard. Vision again turned to see Thor sitting across from tony who had already made his way halfway through the bottle. Thor pulled out his flask, and took a large swig.

Tony and Thor didn’t seem to realize the other was there, too busy trying to drown their own sorrows (He guessed, he wasn’t quite sure. He’d have to ask Y/n the next time she was around.) to notice. The red android was concerned, Tony’s rate of alcohol consumption could be harmful if it continued for much longer.

Wanda tugged at his arm, drawing him up off of the couch. He followed without complaint, though he tilted his head in confusion. She made her way to the elevator, and it opened just before they reached it, a distracted Steve Rogers getting off.

Vision was starting to become concerned that something had been going around, like a cold at this point, but didn’t argue getting pulled into the elevator.

“Wanda, what is wrong with the Captain, Thor, and Tony? Are they not well?” He asked, and Wanda gave him a small knowing smile.

“Don’t worry Vis. But things around here are going to start being more interesting.”

~~~~

Steve was, confused. He didn’t understand why he was acting like he was a 15 year old asking out his crush. The first time he had seen you it was like getting sucker punched. You were so kind, ready to help if one needed it, and able to dish out just as much as you got.

At first, he thought you were just being polite, but he had thought maybe it had changed. But then Tony interrupted just as he had finally gotten the proper courage.

He walked off the elevator into the common room, barely noticing Vision and Wanda as they passed him. Wandering over to the fridge, he opened it and pulled out the makings for a sandwich, setting up on the counter. It took a minute before he registered the two heavy sets of glares boring into his back.

Turning around, he saw both Thor and Tony giving him dark looks, and seeming pretty intoxicated. “What’s wrong?” He asked.

Which was apparently the wrong thing to say, as thunder crashed outside and Thor growled lowly. Tony just laughed with no humour.

“Nothing’s wrong, it’s just awesome. You know, perfect story book ending. Knight in shining armour shows up, girl swoons and falls into his arms. Could write your own fairy tale.” He ranted, pulling the bottle of vodka closer as if to take another swig.

Steve pulled the bottle out of his arms, taking note of how empty the bottle already was. “Tony, I have no idea of what you’re talking about.”

The dark haired man scoffed. “Sure you don’t. I saw you with Y/n. Acting all cozy, take it you two are already an item.” He spat the last word and Steve was taken aback.

“Wait, you-” He was cut off by Thor now.

“Yes, we have feelings for Y/n. Not that it matters now, as she clearly prefers you.”  He said mournfully.

The super soldier’s eyebrows furrowed. “You guys, we aren’t dating.” They looked at him skeptically. “I mean, I’d _like_ to, I’m not going to lie.” He sighed.

Tony looked at the other two. “Well than how are deciding this?” He asked.

Thor shook his head, uncertain. “I do not know, brother Stark.” He thought for a moment. “Perhaps sister Natasha could ask Y/n for us?”

Steve shrugged his shoulders, figuring that Nat already knew the answer, but he still feared the answer. When they looked over at Tony, only to see him face planted into the table.

“I’ll carry him to his room. Shall we speak with sister Natasha tomorrow?” Thor asked, hauling the unconscious Tony over his shoulder. Steve only nodded, still too much on his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, what did you think? I wasn't sure about that last chunk, but I wanna kick-start the plot at this point, and that means I have to get the romance moving along. Hopefully I can move this story all the way through the MCU, at least that's the plan. Anyways, Please comment, I love hearing what you have to say. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!

**Author's Note:**

> Well, what did you think? Let me know in the comments, as well as vote for which Avenger you want Reader to end up with. It doesn't matter which gender, and it might end up being multiple, which you can vote for too. Anyways, I hope you have a good day and thanks for reading!


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